Trade secrets are often a company's most valuable intellectual property (IP). They can encompass product compositions, business and industrial processes, customer and supplier relationships, and terms and conditions of business operations. It is vitally important that companies establish procedures worldwide to protect their trade secrets and be prepared, when necessary, to litigate. It is equally important to have knowledgeable assistance in selling or licensing this valuable information.

Hogan & Hartson possesses the experience, industry knowledge and geographic scope to advise clients on all aspects of trade-secret protection. The firm assists clients with assessing the adequacy of their existing policies, practices, and systems. We develop internal procedures for companies to identify and protect commercially important proprietary information. Our services include drafting and reviewing of confidentiality, nondisclosure, and employee agreements. We formulate trade secret theft policies and practices applicable to current, future, and former employees.

Our lawyers have extensive experience in negotiating the sale and acquisition of proprietary information and other IP in association with transactions that involve IP rights, including trade secrets, patents, and other IP assets. We have an extensive and successful record of accomplishment in both prosecuting and defending matters that involve trade secrets.

Related Experience

• We successfully defended a large communications company against damage claims exceeding $400 million in which a plaintiff alleged that our client misappropriated trade secrets in connection with the development of air-to-ground telephone technology.
• In a case that we brought on behalf of a data analysis solutions company for the misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of confidentiality agreements, and other violations, the jury found for our client and awarded it a total of $12.1 million.
• We successfully represented a biotech company in connection with alleged theft of trade secrets by a venture capital firm that attempted to obtain board seats and invest in both the biotech company and its competitor.
• We successfully represented a life sciences company in a trade secret theft matter regarding a method for manufacturing injectable penicillin.